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England arrived in Cardiff 30 years ago for the last match of the season neither bristling with confidence nor quaking, but they departed on the receiving end of what remains Wales's biggest post-war win over England, a 27–3 thrashing. Inflation would make that a heavier defeat this evening.

There is a feeling abroad that the England of 2009 could go down by at least as many points. Now, as then, they face the defending grand slam champions on the back of an unconvincing victory at Twickenham – a 7-6 "backs-to-the-wall special," according to their full-back in 1979, Alastair Hignell, to compare with last week's clumsy win over Italy.

If there is a difference it is in the confidence of the Wales team. In 1979 they had just lost 14–13 to France in Paris, and even the advantages of playing England in Cardiff and securing yet another triple crown, after victories over Ireland and Scotland, at the end of their golden decade were tempered by the absence of several of the giants of that age. There was no Mervyn Davies, Terry Cobner or Bobby Windsor in the pack. Gareth Edwards and Phil Bennett had retired, leaving the youthful Terry Holmes and Gareth Davies as the half-backs.

Alan Phillips, the current Wales manager, was winning his first cap at hooker, while Mike Roberts was being restored to the second row after an absence of four years. The Welsh selection was described at the time as "experimental". There was, however, JPR Williams, a familiar rock and tormentor of the English at full-back. This was going to be, he had said, his last game before he, too, slipped into retirement.

Even with JPR at the back and with the Welsh pack in control, after nearly an hour nothing was settled. The scoreboard stood at 7–3 to Wales. Suddenly, JPR was limping off. On the bench, nobody stirred. "Whenever anyone else went down," recalls Clive Griffiths, who had been covering wing and full-back throughout the championship without going on once, "the replacements leapt to their feet. But I saw it was JPR, and we knew how durable he was, so I stayed put."

In the changing room, however, it was clear that the full-back would not be going back on. "In a collision with Richard Cardus, JPR had sliced open his calf," says Griffiths. "As if someone had slashed him with a Stanley knife. I moved then; nearly gave myself a hernia vaulting a barrier to get on the field."

The arrival of the 25-year old, to win his first cap, changed the game. Wales took control, scoring three more tries, including one for the venerable Roberts. The record book shows that Hignell made his team's last attacking run, before being tackled by Steve Fenwick and Paul Ringer. "If it was Ringer it probably came with pain," says Hignell, "but I can't remember it at all. Just that it became a nightmare."

For Griffiths it was all much more memorable. For Wales's fourth and last try he burst up the short side on a dazzling run that resulted in a try for Elgan Rees. "People still congratulate me on scoring in that game. I should tell them it was Elgan, but you know." It was Griffiths's first and last cap.